Sheep-feeding device



. SHEEP EEEDING DEVICE. A No. 284,801. Patented 88pm, 1888.

N. PUEHS, Photo-uxhogmpmf. wnhingwn, D. C.

UNITED STATES ABRAHAM HEsrER AND HENRY L.-

HEsTER, or CoNCoRD, MICHIGAN;

SH EEP-FEEDING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION foming 'part cf Letters Patent No.. 284,301, dated september 4, 1883.

Application filed March 23, 1883. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that we, ABRAHAM HEsrER and HENRY L. HEsrER, ofGoncord, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sheep-Feediug Devices; and we hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the constructionof sheep-feeding devices, by means of which the sheep may be fed with equal amounts of grain to each, and prevented from crowding each other, or in one obtaining the feed properly belonging to another.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction of parts, and their combination, as more fully hereinafter described. e

Figure l is a perspective view of our improved device with a portion of the roof and wall broken away to show the stall-divisions and feed-trough. Fig. 2 is a top plan with the cover of the grain-bin removed. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical `central section through the same.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the roof, andBthe end walls, of my feedany suitable foundation.

ciently above the same to free access to the trough,

C isa feed-trough extending the whole length between the end walls, supported at a proper height for the sheep readilyto feed therefrom. I

D D are partitions forming individual stalls,` the distance between them being sufficient to allow the sheep `to reach the feed in the troughs, and suificiently strong to .prevent one sheep from crowding another while in the act of feeding. These partitions also, by extending forward transversely through the trough G, serve to divide said trough into compartments.

E is'a board supported between the end walls immediately over the trough, and sufallow the sheep and this board is provided` with a series of holes vertically through the same, and so arranged that each division of the trough will haveone of these holes discharging immediately therein.

F is a slidehaving a reciprocating motion by Ineans of the lever G, and H is the bottom of the feed-bin I, and this bottom is provided with a series of holes, b, corresponding with the holesin the slide F and board E. The slide F can be reciprocated between this bottom and the bar, and acts as a cut-off to prevent the feed from flowing out of the bin into the trough except when the holes in the slide are coincident with the vother described.

delivery-holes 1 J is a rod, which also has a reciprocating motion given it`by the throw of the lever G, ,and this rod extends longitudinally through the center of the feed-bin, and has attached thereto rake-heads c, or other suitable devices for moving the grain and preventing its pack ing in the bin, so that it will flow freely into the trough below.

K is the frontof the device, hingedto the roof, as shown.- It must be\raised to allow the sheep to enter, (each one its stall,) when itmay be dropped to confine him in his position until he has completed his feed, and this hinged front will be found of great service in excluding snow or driving rain from the trough. The feed-bin itself isprovided also with a hinged cover, L.

Should it be deemed desirable to duplicate this device or provide for` feeding sheep on each side with a central trough, it would simply be necessary to put a longitudinal division through the trough and duplicate the holes in the deliveryboard, slide, and bottom of the bin, so that each hole would deliver the requisite quantity of grain to each one of the divisions of the trough below.

What we claim as our invention isl. In a sheep-feeding device, a series of stalls with roof A, supported on the stall-par titions, and cover K, hinged thereto, in combination with a trough subdivided into small compartments by the continuation of the stallpartitions D, a bin arranged above said trough and under a cover, as L, and means, substantially as described, forV delivering the required the rake-rod J and rake, al1 constructed, ar-

ranged, and operating as set forth.

ABRAHAM HESTER, HENRY. L. HESTER.

. Witnesses:

H. S. SPRAGUE, E. W. ANDREWS. 

